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The Thousand
The Thousand Some months ago in our fair Kingdom of Elsbeth we have the fortune to receive an intriging band of...... shall I call them "humanesque" adventurers upon our shores. These adventurers, who appear to us as walking shadows, refer to themselves as "The Thousand". I have not been able to glean much information from them yet, as gaining their trust is both a time consuming process in addition to the fact that they neither speak our language nor had a concept of spoken language at the time they arrived on our shores. In spite of this it seems unlikely that they are simply barbarians- their ships were of quite advanced design- rather they seem ignorant of many of the finer details of the world, though this belies their massive appetite for learning. Indeed in the months they have been here many have already mastered our language to a degree at which they can craft fine poetry, though I have noticed they speak only in poetic verse anyway; perhaps a quirk of their ability to communicate? I have enclosed all the scant information I have gleaned from The Thousand immigrants in several letters which I have proceeded to send to many of my friends and colleagues throughout the kingdom and indeed to those in Gemtopia and the Emerald City as well. I wish them luck in their study of The Thousand. ~John Jameson of the village of North Norwichshire, Kingdom of Elsbeth, Scholar and farmer Since The Thousand have arrived in the Emerald City they have become a topic of much interest, at least to those with the time to waste on such hobbies. I, being one of those frivolous folk have given over much time to studying them. Recently I received a letter by way of a friend who knew of my enthusiasm penned by a man named John Jameson, a subject of our neighbor the Kingdom of Elsbeth. While he had discovered scant information regarding The Thousand he did make several important notes which I myself have observed on my own visits to the shipyards (where most of The Thousand have taken up employment as cheap laborers- a topic apparently of much consternation to the lower class). The poetry, the quick learning of new skills and a seemingly voracious appetite to acquire knowledge. I have also noted however that there is some physical variation in The Thousand. Having taken trips to the shipyards at all times of day whenever I have a chance, I have noted that not only do those who work in the morning, afternoon and evening differ from each other numerically and in terms of actual progress on their work, but physically those of the morning seem to be the smallest in size. Their demeanor is rather flighty, sometimes they'll just stand and.... stare I suppose is the right word, yes they stare at the sky or the sea or a bird. I hear them sing occasionally as well. Those of the afternoon seem to take frequent brakes to have what I can only see as heated debate among scholars, I can empathize with them having been there myself. They seem to be larger than both evening and morning types and are the most numerous of The Thousand. The evening types seem both unwilling to work and the most likely to gamble away their earnings, in fact they are responsible for most of the grumbling from the lower class due to their nature as thieves and cheaters and loansharks. They are, to say the least, unpleasant to be around. I can usually feel them casting what I can only assume are glares at me when I stay in one area for too long. Hopefully my experiences will be of use to someone more suited to this kind of thing, perhaps a more inquisitive scholar can solve "the mystery of The Thousand". And so I, like Mr. Jameson before me do enclose this information in as many letters as I can force my secretary to pen and send them to be delivered to scholars across the known world- Mr. Jameson among them of course. ~Marcellus Aureaus IV, Landed Gentleman and occasional scholar Having dedicated virtually all of my waking hours to the study of The Thousand and having gathered up all the research notes of my colleagues- with special thanks to Mr, Aureaus of the Emerald City and Mr. Jameson of the Kingdom of Elsbeth I believe I have discovered much more in-depth information regarding The Thousand. I write with haste due to my excitement you see, for I have discovered that The Thousand are organized into a form of caste system called the Dial. The Dial divides The Thousand into four caste groups based on the four quarters of the day, then subdivides them based on the six hours within each of the four quarters, then further divides them based on the quarters of each hour then on the fifteen minutes of each quarter-hour. Finally it seems there is a final division based on the sixty seconds of the minute. I have, with the aid of several leaders of the Gemtopian Thousand community such as Baldon of the 6th Noon and Camellian of the 5th Morn also gained insight into a curious poem called "The Canticle of the Thousand", though only 1/2 of the poem is mine at the moment due to the complete obstruction on the part of the third caste, the Duskians, who are generally unpleasant lenders of money and organizers of gambling both legal and illegal and generally seem to have a contempt for the laws of Gemtopia not observed in the Noonites and Dawnlings. I have enclosed the poem and other information and sent it to my friend and colleague in the north of the country, who has been studying The Thousand in his care there. ~Legaos Mathas, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Gemtopia-At-Wise Recently I received a letter from an old friend of mine, Legaos. Using his information in conjunction with my own and that which my colleagues elsewhere have discovered I have found the four Dials of The Thousand as such- Dawnlings- the artists of The Thousand, Noonites- the scholars of The Thousand, Duskians- money-managers of The Thousand. The fourth Dial I would rather not speak of.... I have not encoutered one to date but my research seems to indicate that they are rather........ disturbing, to say the very least. I had been pestering one Dawnling woman about them only to have her break down and begin "sobbing" in their manner. She kept repeating a line of poetry that went "whispers darkening the moonlit heavens, black hearts and shadowed groves left alone, anger them not those who live within the caverns, they who are neither of flesh nor bone". An illustration I was able to coax out of one of the Duskians, who seem to be the Dial most acquainted with the "Darkeners" or "Nighteners" as they appear to be called was in a word- ghastly. Like the ghouls and ghosts of children's nightmares this thing that was put to paper was not a humanoid shadow like the three Dials of the daytime, rather it was.... whispy, unworldly. My own nightmares of childhood- of phantoms haunting the dark corners of my parents' manorhouse- came flooding back..................... (the piece ends halfway on the page, only to begin again at the top of the next page- it seems the writer wrote the second part several days later) My last entry ended rather abruptly. I apologize for that, I seem to have passed out and was found by one of my maids in the morning. Nothing permanent to this old body, but I distinctly dreamed I was speaking to one of the Nighteners. Plainly it told me where and when I could meet it in the forests of Gemtopia, farther to the north. I am, in fact, on an expedition with several loyal and strong men right now- a hunting party is what they believe it to be, though the truth is darker. These Nighteners seem more threatening than mysterious now, and I'll be damned if one is allowed to roam freely through my country preying on whomever it likes. I go tonight to the appointed meeting place, and though it was only a dream I believe I and my colleagues will meet this "Most Dangerous Game" exactly where I was told in my dream. I ask only for protection from the divine in my struggles against this..... thing. ~Xandros Themistoclos Mr. Themistoclos and his party never returned but for a single man. He was found by a peasant woodsman and turned over to the Gemtopian authorities who questioned him for several days until it was determined that the man's sanity had been so damaged by the foray into the forest that no meaningful information would ever been gleaned from further questioning. The disappearance of a local noble of such prominence as Mr. Themistoclos has been ruled a simply accident of the harsh inner forests- it has been decided it was likely a bear who attacked the party, a very large bear. Though others whisper it may have been a murder of political importance, that perhaps Mr. Themistoclos was involved in disputes with other landowners who had friends in high places. Still others have placed the blame on the newcomer Thousand community, though they are so docile and hardworking with the exception of a few bad eggs who emerge at nighttime that most dismiss such claims as simple xenophobia. The Canticle of the Thousand Category:Nation Category:Empire Emporium